Each year, 38 billion bottles of wine are produced in the world. The most critical component of certifiable value to the consumer, provenance (typically defined as authenticity, traceability and knowledge of storage temperatures), is anecdotal at best, and unverifiable. When a winemaker ships wine to a consumer, there are various intermediaries between the wine maker and the end consumer, including master distributors, negociants, importers, wholesalers, wine retailers and restaurants. Many of these entities are customers of the previous entity in this distribution channel and in between them all are various forms of shippers and movers. Untracked temperature fluctuations during transport can harm the quality of this asset, yet no standard methods for temperature monitoring exist through this process. Wine producers care profoundly about the quality of their wines—it is the mainstay of the value of their brand. Yet they have had no way to consistently monitor the care given to their products in transit.
Furthermore, as fine wine increases in value, the sophistication of counterfeiting efforts grows, more and more counterfeit bottles are appearing, and many of these counterfeits go undiscovered. As it becomes more difficult, especially for the average wine consumer, to discern authentic from counterfeit, the need for winemakers to protect their brand, by enabling consumers to feel sure that they have an authentic bottle, mounts.
Additionally, counterfeit bottles are disruptive to the secondary markets such as fine wine auctions. Increasing amounts of testing are required for participation in fine wine auctions, especially by the more well known houses, such as Sotheby's. Many auctions planned over long periods of time have had to be cancelled or modified due to the unexpected discovery of counterfeit bottles in a collector's cellar. The ensuing legal battles from these discoveries result in negative publicity for all involved and may reduce the number of participants in fine wine auctions.
Counterfeiting is a serious issue among spirits as well as wines. The spirits market consists of the sale of brandy, gin & genever, liqueurs, rum, specialty spirits, tequila & mezcal, vodka and whisky. The global spirits market generated total revenues of $179.7 billion in 2005. Exports of all European spirits such as whisky and vodka to China reached ε200m in 2007, from just ε8m in 1999. In November of 2007, a quarter of all spirits brands claiming to be of European origin now sold in China are counterfeit, according to Jamie Fortescue, director general of the European Spirits Organisation. Fortesque stresses that the problem of fake brands is not unique to China—or for that matter Asia—by adding that there were also growing concerns regarding counterfeiting of alcohol in many Eastern European nations among others.
Manufacturing similar-looking counterfeit bottles, labels and capsules is also a common practice. In this case, a high-volume manufacturing operation produces a counterfeit alcoholic beverage and fills the counterfeit bottles, complete with counterfeit labels and capsules, with the counterfeit beverage. It may be difficult to distinguish a counterfeit bottle and its contents from an authentic bottle and its contents without opening the bottle and analysing the contents.
Refilling authentic spirits bottles with counterfeit beverages is a frequently used method in the counterfeiting of spirits. Conventional methods to validate content have to this point required chemical testing and typically require opening the bottle. Counterfeit spirits often include considerable health issues as substances such as methanol are known to be used in the production of the counterfeit beverages. Methanol can create health issues such as severe abdominal pain, drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision leading to blindness, and coma with breathing difficulties. The symptoms of methanol poisoning can be delayed for several hours further obfuscating cause and effect conclusions.
Spirits can have considerably higher alcohol content than wine; some even in the 30% range. As such “freezing” temperatures are less of an issue with spirits than with wines, but temperature-controlled containers for shipping are still required for most spirits especially in warmer climates and seasons to avoid issues with heat. Spirits, like wines, can be “cooked” at higher temperatures.